1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clip driver for binding edges of sheets of paper such as documents or the like by using a clip, and particularly relates to a clip driver in which a plurality of clips each being formed of a sheet of elastic plate-like member bent to have abutment portions on its longitudinally opposite ends is accommodated and successively sent to a position in which the abutment portions are opened so as to grasp the sheets of paper therebetween.
2. Description of the Related Art
In JP-Y-58-4698, the Applicant of this application has proposed not only a clip which is formed of a sheet of elastic plate-like member so as to have a back portion formed at the longitudinal center of the plate-like member and abutment portions formed so as to be continued to this back portion so that their front ends abut against each other, but also a clip driver for opening the abutment portions of such a clip so as to make the clip grasp sheets of paper such as documents between the abutment portions. This clip driver is constituted by: a driver body having a paper insertion inlet formed at its front end for inserting end portions of sheets of paper to be clipped, a clip insertion inlet formed at its rear end, and a storage portion formed in its inside for storing clips; clip opening springs provided near the paper insertion inlet in the driver body so as to be inserted between the abutment portions of a clip to thereby open the abutment portions against the elasticity of the clip; and a lever removably inserted into the storage portion from the rear end of the storage portion so as to engage with a back portion of a clip to thereby push the clip toward the paper insertion inlet. When sheets of paper are to be clipped, the sheets of paper are inserted into the paper insertion inlet, and a clip is moved toward the paper insertion inlet by the lever. If the clip is further moved, the clip opening springs are inserted into the opening between the abutment portions of the clip. The clip is further moved toward the paper insertion inlet while opening the abutment portions to reach a position where the sheets of paper placed in the paper insertion inlet are held between the abutment portions of the clip. If the lever is further moved forward, the clip is removed from the clip opening springs, so that the clip can be ejected from the paper insertion inlet in a state where the clip grasps the sheets of paper between the abutment portions.
In the clip driver proposed in the above-mentioned JP-Y-58-4698, there was a defect that it was impossible to charge a plurality of clips in the storage portion because one clip is pushed out by the front end of the lever. Therefore, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,157, the inventor of this application proposed a clip driver in which a knob was provided on the upper surface of a storage portion of a driver body so that the knob could slide in the front/rear or longitudinal direction and the front end portion of the knob could move down. In the clip driver, if this knob was advanced while being pushed-down, a clip was pushed out to the position of clip opening springs. Further, a plurality of clips could be charged in a storage portion. After the first clip was pushed out, the knob was moved back to abut against the back portion of the next clip, so that the next clip could be moved to the portion of the clip opening springs. In this clip driver proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,157, it was necessary to move back the knob by a finger whenever a new clip was to be positioned to the portion of the clip opening springs, so that there was a problem that the operation was troublesome, although a plurality of clips could be stored so that a plurality of sets of sheets of paper could be clipped continuously.
Therefore, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,755, the inventor of this application further proposed a clip driver in which a knob protrusion was projected on the upper surface of the front end of a knob, while the knob was always kept backward and upward by a spring. When sheets of paper were to be clipped by this clip driver, the knob was pushed down against the elastic force of tie spring and moved forward to thereby push out a first clip. Since the knob was moved up and back when the thumb handling the knob was separated from the knob, the knob could move back, without being disturbed by the next clip, so as to push out the next clip.
According to the clip driver in U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,755, it became possible to clip end portions of sheets of paper only by the operation to move the knob forward, and it became possible to clip sets of sheets of paper continuously. However, to sent the next clip, it was necessary to release the knob from pressure, and then lower the front end side of the clip driver so as to make the clip slide and move toward the front end by its own weight. This led to a disadvantage that it was impossible to perform clipping continuously.
In JP-A-6-15994, on the other hand, a clip driver which can perform clipping continuously is proposed. In this clip driver, a notch portion extending in the front/rear or longitudinal direction is provided in the upper surface of a casing body, a clip insertion inlet is provided in the rear side of the notch portion for inserting a clip, and a cover covering this notch portion is provided so that the rear end of the cover is rotatable at the rear end of the casing body. Such a knob as mentioned above is provided in the cover so as to be movable in the front/rear or longitudinal direction. A clip pushing member is inserted into the casing body so as to push a clip located at the rearmost position toward the front end. This clip pushing member and the knob are connected through a coil spring. With this configuration, the clip pushing member is urged by the coil spring so as to be positioned at the rear of the clip insertion inlet when the cover is opened. Consequently, a clip at the rearmost position can be pushed toward the front end whenever the cover is closed so that clips inserted from the clip insertion inlet can be fed out continuously by this pushing force.
However, in the clip driver in JP-A-6-15994, the casing body is required to have a length which is equal to the sum of the length of the clip pushing member and the total length of a maximum number of the clips to be accommodated in the casing body. It is therefore inevitable that the clip driver is made longer than a conventional one. In addition, it is the weakest point of this clip driver that it is difficult to attach the clips because it is necessary to open the cover against the expansion/contraction force of the spring in order to fill up the clips, and because the insertion hole is narrow enough to prevent the clips from coming out therefrom.